Are you a member of the "thumb generation"? Can you work the keyboard of your smartphone faster than most people can speak? The term thumb generation was coined in South Korea and Japan and is applied to people under twenty-five who furiously finger their handheld devices to text at lightning speeds.
More technological innovations are coming that are likely to transform our lives. WiMAX is a new wireless super technology that will cover entire cities at cable speeds. Near field communication (NFC) takes the Bluetooth technology a step further to connect cell phones and other devices. Several pending technologies are purported eventually to improve the lives of users and tech support pros alike.18 Your boss pulled two articles about tech innovations out of his files to show you. However, you know that you can find more current discussions of future trends on MIT's Technology Review Web site at www.technologyreview.com.
You are one of several marketing interns at MarketNet Global, a worldwide e-commerce specialist. Your busy boss, Jack Holden, wants to be up to speed on cutting-edge tech and communication trends, especially those that could be successfully used in selling and marketing. Individually or as a team, you will research one or several high-tech concepts. On the MIT Technology Review Web site, focus on the tabs Business, Computing, Web, and Communications. Chances are you will not find scholarly articles on these subjects because peer-reviewed publications take years to complete. Instead, you must rely on the Web and on electronic databases to find up-to-date information. If you use search engines, you will retrieve many forum and discussion board contributions as well. Examine them critically.
In teams or individually, write an e-mail or informational memo to Jack Holden (jack.holden@basco.com) complete with a short list of references in MLA or APA documentation style. Explain each new trend. Your instructor may ask you to complete this activity as a report assignment describing to Jack Holden what your sources suggest the new trends may mean for the future of business, specifically e-commerce and online marketing.